Railway-joint



. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

ROBERT E. GREENWELL, OF OSAGE MISSION, KANSAS.

RAILWAY-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 227,519, dated May 11,1880.

Application filed March 26, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT E. GREENWELL, of Osage Mission, in the countyof N eosho and State of Kansas, have invented a new and ImprovedRailway-Joint; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a horizontal section through the web of the rail, thefish-plates, and the bolts. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 isa horizontal section through the web of the rail, the fish-plates, andthe bolts, showing amodification of the invention. Fig. 4 shows detailside and end views of the special form of fish- -plates used in Fig. 3.

My invention relates to certain improvements in railway-joints of thatform in which a set of bolts project through the fish-plates and haveends slotted lengthwise to receive a key which is driven in in a planeparallel with the bolt.

The invention consists in combining the fishplates, the slottedfish-plate bolt's,'a key, and an elongated gib behindthe key, which gibpasses through two or more of the bolts and serves to tie them togetherand prevent them from being bent by the entrance of the key, ashereinafter described.

In the drawings, referring to Figs. 1 and 2, A A represent the abuttingends of the main rails. B B are the fish-plates; O O, the keys; D, theslotted bolts, and E E" the gibs. In forming the fish-plates, one ofthem, B, is made with a gradual taper on its outer surface from each endto the middle, so that its thickest point lies at the joint of the tworails, and thereby strengthens the same. on the outer sur face of thetwo inclines rest the keys 0 C, which are driven through thelongitudinal slots of the bolts. The gibs E E rest outside the keys andbear against the metal at the ends of the bolts, the said gibs beingcurved outwardly at their ends and serving the useful function ofguiding the key into place and preventing it from burying in the metalof the bolts and bendingthelatter when the key is being driven in. Inthe adjacent ends of the keys 0 O is formed a set of holes, a, and thesaid ends are at their edges beveled to a chiseledge, as

shown in Fig.2, so that when the keys are driven in from opposite endsof the fish-plate they lap the one upon the other, and when the holesregister the keys are secured in this position by a bolt, 1), which ispassed through said registering holes. 7

For withdrawing the keys .notches c are formed at the ends of the keys,so that the latter may be withdrawn without striking the other end witha hammer, which would have a tendency to upset it and jam it tightly inthe slots of the bolts.

In making use of my invention I do not confine myself to making thefish-plate with a double-inclined seatfor the keys, but may make thefish-plate with a single incline and a single key and gib, as shown inFig. 3. In this case the fish-plate B is constructed with an inclinedgroove, (1, to receive the key, which groove is of a considerable depthat one end and runs out into the plane of the fish-plate at the other,the gib and key being used in the same relation as in the other case,and the key being held in place by a bolt, 1), driven through 7 5 a holein the key just outside of the last bolt.

4 As shown in both forms of my invention, headed bolts are employed, andwith them it is obvious that the fish-plates are required to be of thespecial construction shown only on one side of the rail; but, ifdesired, I may dispense with the head of the bolt and slot each end ofthe same, and provide them on each side of the rail with the peculiarform of fishplate, gib, and key.

In cutting the holes through the rails for the reception of the bolts,said holes are to be made elongated to compensate for temperaturevariations.

Instead of a bolt, 1), for fastening the adja- 0 cent ends of the keystogether, as in Fig. 1, a wire or other equivalent device may beemployed.

In defining my invention more clearly, I would state that I am awarethat a gib is a well- 9 5 known workshop expedient to facilitate thepassage of a key, and I do not claim it except when combined with two ormore distant slotted fish-plate bolts, D D, in which relation it servesto connect the outer ends of said bolts and prevent them from being bentby the entering key. The gib, then, when made long enough to connect andtie together the ends of the bolts, has value, whether the key be drivenin at right angles or on an incline; butit has a special value when thekeys are driven in diagonally upon a tapering fish-plate.

I am also aware that an inclined bearing for the key is not new, and Ido not claim this broadly.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Thecombination, with the rails and fish'- plates, of. the slotted bolts DD, the key 0, having its plane coincident with the plane of the axis ofthe bolt, and the gib E, arranged behind the key and connecting two ormore of the separated bolts, so as to prevent the bending of the samefrom the entrance of the key, as described.

2. The combination, with the rails and the fish-plates having aninclined outer surface,

of the slotted bolts D D, the key 0, having its plane coincident withthe axis of the bolts, and the gib E, passing through and connecting twoor more of the slotted bolts, as described, to prevent the bending ofthe same-

